In the manufacture of bed linens, towels, and the like, it is standard to start with a large roll of the necessary fabric web. A clamp grips the transversely extending free end of the fabric web and pulls a section of it longitudinally from the roll. This section is then gripped in another clamp at a distance from its free end and the web is transversely severed just upstream of this other clamp, leaving the section clamped at both ends and extending in a generally straight longitudinal path between the two clamps that can then be transported transversely to a second treatment station to which it is handed off. At this transversely offset second station the ends can be hemmed or otherwise finish, or the workpiece can be subjected to any of an assortment of treatments.
The problem with this type of system is that the equipment that cuts the workpiece off the roll and transports it transversely to the treatment station takes up a great deal of space. The transport path to the second station must be as wide as the workpiece is long, so that if the second station is not immediately adjacent the first cutting station, a great deal of floor space is occupied by the conveyor.